Comforting Winter
by MadmanTobz
Summary: Haku survived the battle at the bridge, but was left unconcious from his injuries. While he recovers at Tazuna's House, will something grow betwen him and Naruto? YAOI, NaruHaku. Being rewritten, possibly continued.
1. Comforting Winter

**A/N: **

**Update 2013/06/03:**

I hate basically every chapter in this story.

Not because of the story, mind you, but because I despise my own writing for how bad it is, and thus how horribly written these chapters are.

As a result, and since I do feel a strange urge to keep writing this story even though I probably really shouldn't be giving it a place on my list of priorities for the coming half a decade, I'm re-writing the existing 3 chapters in preparation for writing a fourth.

I do advice you to re-read this chapter even if you read the original, because I have actually noticeably changed it, though not enough so to alter the actual story. Besides the extensive improvements to grammar and sentence/paragraph structure in general, I also made a small change that I think you may like.

So, without further ado, here's the re-written chapter 1 of Comforting Winter. Please enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. ''Naruto'' belongs to Masashi Kishimoto ****and Shueisha.**** Honestly, do you think I'd spend my time writing **___**fan**_**fiction if I owned the original story?**

* * *

''Oi! Grab it!''

''Eh? AAHH!''

**Splash.**

After a few silent seconds, a _very_ wet Uzumaki Naruto emerged from the river.

''Baka, stay focused or we won't even catch one!'' His pink-haired teammate, Haruno Sakura, scolded apprehensively from his left. As the blonde stood back up, it was evident that the fish which had jumped at him had gotten away, leaving but a confused jinnchuricki coughing up water in its wake.

''Dobe, if you can't stay focused you might as well go back to the house.'' The blonde's other teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, pointed out with a hint of uncharacteristically obvious annoyance in his voice.

''Right, sorry!'' To both of their surprises, the blonde then waded back to shore, shook some water off of himself and started heading back in the general direction of previously mentioned house.

''Hey Dobe, where are you heading?'' Naruto turned back around as if the question surprised him, though that was quite probably the case. ''...Back to the house?''

''But we're supposed to be catching fish for Tazuna-san to repay the hospitality, remember?'' The pink-haired member of team Kakashi pointed out. The blonde boy just gave her one of his signature over-the-top goofy grins and resumed walking.

''Yeah, but I'm no help if I can't focus, right?'' The comment left two Genin in confusion as the blonde got out of sight. Something was up.

On the way back, Naruto continued his previously interrupted trail of thoughts involving a certain injured shinobi resting up at the house he was heading for. Haku, the young apprentice of Momochi Zabuza of the Hidden Mist. Zabuza himself had passed on several days ago, and had been buried shortly afterwards. The young boy had been mortally injured by the genins' squad leader, Hatake-Kakashi, and had awoken only two days ago, a day after Zabuza's funeral.

A person unaware of the circumstances would've expected him be happy to be alive, but such was certainly not the case. He'd been devastated to learn of his master's demise, and had demanded to be taken to his grave regardless of his own lethally weakened state. Despite weak pleas and almost pitiful attempts at going himself, he had been kept firmly in bed by the silver-haired Jounin, who had promised he'd be allowed to visit as soon as his injuries permitted him to. Ever since, the boy had done nothing but sit isolated in the room he'd been given, looking out through his one and only window.

Unbeknownst to most, Naruto had witnessed him at several occasions, being able to somewhat relate to the boy on a level that few could. He knew what it was like to have no one in the world to turn to, though he had yet to lose any of the ones he'd gained. It was his greatest fear, and the missing-nin's current reality, a fact that nagged away at the blonde to no end.

''Ah, Naruto-kun! Should I tell Tsunami to expect the fish anytime soon?'' A voice brought the jinnchuriki out of his thoughts and back to reality. The source of the voice was Tazuna who was sitting on the porch outside his house, which Naruto just realized he'd reached.

''Eh? Tazuna-san! Well, -teme said they didn't need me to help and told me to go rest up, but they're probably done any time now.'' The old man nodded in understanding. ''That's great! I'll tell her to be ready for it then.'' Naruto lingered awkwardly in the doorway, carrying an expression that just _shouted_ "I want to ask something" in the eyes of any parent.

''Ano... Tazuna-san...''

"Hm?"

"Is he still in there? Did he eat or anything?" His voice was now less energetic.

The question brought a somber expression onto the old man's face. Not one of anger or hate, but of concern. ''I'm afraid not. The poor boy still hasn't left his room, though he should've healed enough to walk around by now.'' The reply was both discouraging and uplifting, as odd as that was.

''I see. Thanks anyway Old man!'' The goofy grin was back in place, and it was responded to by a near-equally goofy one. Both of them faded into worry once the other was out of sight. When inside, the sudden silence reminded the blonde that Inari had gone into town for a while, and it would seem Tsunami-san had stepped out for a bit, probably to tend the flowerbed she had been growing in the backyard.

Naruto weighed his options. It was too early to go to bed, and he didn't feel like training. He could visit Haku?

...Actually, that sounded like a vaguely good idea. Then again, it also sounded like a horribly awkward one.

"..._Maybe I'll just go say hi to Tsunami-san instead." _It just struck him as a far less demanding activity really.

...Though, on second though, she'd probably put him to work.

"_Alright, stick-my-head-out-the-window-and-say-hi it is." _And so he did.

"Tsunami-sa-" With little success. Unless you count eating a flower as "success."

A mix of coughing and female laughter filled the air for a few innocent seconds.

"Sorry, I wouldn't have let go of the stalk if I'd known you were there Naruto-kun." The mother of Inari and daughter of Tazuna uttered apologetically from just below the kitchen-window.

"Why the heck are you growing a flower _in front_ of the window!?" The blonde shouted while coughing up a final petal.

"It's not supposed to grow that tall. I was actually about to uproot and replant it over there just now." She offered him a motherly smile. Her habit of doing so was one that the blonde appreciated more than she probably realized, it usually left him quiet for a split second. "Did you want anything in particular?"

"Ah, not really, I was just gonna say hi. Oh, and Sasuke and Sakura are probably gonna be back with some fish real soon."

"I better finish up and start preparing for dinner then. Thank you for the heads up." Another one of those smiles kept him stationary for slightly longer than he had intended.

"No problem!" A childish grin crossed his features as he withdrew back inside, though he stopped after being addressed once more.

"Are you about to visit Haku-san by any chance?"

Truthfully, he hadn't decided, though he might as well now.

"Yeah."

"Wait here for a second." Her raven hair briefly disappeared below the windowsill, and, a few "hmpf" and a "snip" later, she soon reappeared with a red flower in hand. "Here, give him this. I was just about to get rid of it anyway."

The blonde felt small amounts of blood rush to his cheeks.

"W-why would I give him a flower!?" He questioned defensively.

"Think of it as a get-well gift." Yet another smile graced her features, and he just couldn't say no. He accepted the flower from her out-stretched hand and firmly went back inside before she could think of any _more_ embarrassing ideas. Throwing the flower a quick glance while walking up the stairs told him roughly nothing. It was red, and somewhat resembled a rose, though it was different enough for even someone as ignorant of fauna as him to be able to tell it clearly wasn't one. Still, the implications _had _hit him by the time he arrived at the doorway.

He stood outside in silence, trying desperately to muster up the resolve to enter. It took longer than he expected, but he eventually managed. The room was unexpectedly dark. Though, it _was_ on the opposite end of the house from the sun, and the window had curtains over it. Albeit see-through, it was enough to dampen the overall lighting.

He initially couldn't see the boy, but since he knew from experience where to look, his eyes soon adjusted enough for him to see the kneeling form below the window.

''I know you're there, Naruto-san.'' The statement was unexpected, but welcomed none the less. The blonde took it as a sign that he could approach him. He positioned himself next to the wounded boy and sat down. He immediately noticed a very familiar gaze being directed out through the window. It was a gaze he'd seen several times in the mirror.

''Are you alright?'' He hesitantly asked. It was a stupid question, and he half anticipated the answer.

''Of course not. I no longer have a purpose to live for.''

"Of course you do!" The blonde was interrupted. "Weapons exist for their wielders, what purpose is there then without that wielder?" His tone was not upset, at least not noticeably. It was calm, and with little emotion. As if resigned to a meaningless fate.

"You're _not _just a weapon! You're a person like anyone else, and even Zabuza admitted that before he-" The interruption came from himself this time, having caught on to what he was about to blurt out so casually just in time. Haku had yet to divert his eyes from the window, but the blonde caught them widening slightly even in the dark. "A-anyway! There are people who care about you, just living for their sake is a purpose!"

The injured boy turned his gaze in his direction with obvious intent to speak, but stopped himself before the first word was uttered. Naruto sat momentarily confused until following the raven-haired teen's gaze to the red flower in his hands. He'd forgotten about that.

Trying to make it as _not _awkward as possible, the blonde joltedthe flower into the other boy's hands in a half-panicked attempt at getting the gifting process over with. It probably didn't end up helping much. His cheeks were tinted red all the same, a feature it would seem Haku shared at the moment, though to a lesser degree.

"I-it's just a get-well gift!"

Rather than answer, the older boy opted for twiddling the gift between his fingers, looking it over analytically. The lack of a reply was somewhat unnerving. Without much warning, he turned back to facing the blonde, meeting his gaze with one that carried a question and was both uncertain as well as resolute.

"Do you care about me?" The question was abrupt, and didn't leave much room for thinking, not that the answer would change even if it had.

"...Yeah." It was awkward to admit out loud, but of course he did. He cared about _everyone_ he knew to various extents, and Haku was definitely no exception.

Haku's eyes widened slightly, and even someone as dense about people as Naruto could tell he was having an internal struggle. He averted his eyes and looked down, first to the left then the right before ultimately meeting the blonde's again.

"Something wrong?" The Jinnchuriki asked, but the boy simply repeated his previous actions, this time with more uncertainty showing. "Haku? What's-"

The blonde was momentarily frozen in place. Haku had _kissed _him. Not passionate or deep, just a quick, innocent peck on the lips that lasted for only about a second.

"I won't stop you from leaving." The words were almost lost on the Kyuubi vessel, as most of his mind was still busy trying to process what had just happened. This was an entirely new experience. He'd accidentally kissed Sasuke once but that had just been repulsing, whereas this evoked reactions he had no idea of. He couldn't even tell if they were positive or negative in nature.

''What… I… that…'' He was at a lack of words. Though that in itself wasn't uncommon, this time was unique. ''I-I think I should…'' Things made no sense right then. More than anything else, he just wanted to leave. He wanted time, to pause things and sort things out in his head. Haku didn't bother replying before the blonde got up and left, lingering in the doorway for just a single awkward second before disappearing. Once gone, Haku stared apprehensively at the empty doorway for a few seconds before turning back towards the window, pondering over the possible consequences of his action.

That night, everyone in the household received an unexpected surprise as Haku joined them during dinner. Naruto, too, was surprised, and couldn't help but notice how the dark haired shinobi kept searching for eye-contact.

* * *

**Note: **I am fully aware of the incorrect uses of "dobe" and "teme" and any other such terms. I _know _that they are not technically used correctly, and I'm aware of the standard misuse of them that's plaguing fanfiction. The reason that **I **use them as I do is that I personally think it makes the sentences flow better, as well as make the lines feel closer to "Naruto." Completely removing Japanese terms associated with specific characters simply for the sake of translating a work of fiction into English is, while understandable, completely changing the feel of characters in my honest opinion.

As such, I will continue to have Sasuke refer to Naruto as "Dobe" instead of "Idiot" whenever I feel the former feels better in the dialogue. The same goes for the other misused Japanese terms in this work. Know that this is a conscious decision and not a result of ignorance, and I will not change this because someone complains over it.

**Reviews are the fuel which keeps my literary muse and mind alive. Please, help me keep them alive! **


	2. Cold Dinner

**A/N: ****Update 2013-07-19**

This is the rewritten version of chapter two. Mainly grammar, dialogue formulation and sentence structure, but there were a few glaring ones that had been annoying me. I feel this version is more true to the canon characters by far, so I do hope you reread this new version if you only read the original version.

...Review. Please? ...with sugar on top?

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! ''Naruto'' is owned by Masashi Kishimoto, not me!**

* * *

Dinner at Tazuna's that evening was an awkward one. Naruto was staring down at his food while eating at an actually acceptable pace for once, looking to be deep in thought while Sasuke was busy studying his teammate's unusual behavior. Ordinarily, going by patterns unintentionally established since arrival, they should be competing for who could eat the most by now.

The sole kunoichi of the team merely observed the two with confused interest while no one spoke a word.

''Ah, the fish is delicious Tsunami-san.'' Kakashi broke the silence. It somewhat salvaged the situation, with Sakura striking up a conversation with Sasuke about ''how cool he looked when he caught his **X** fish'' not much later.

Granted it was fairly one-sided, but a discussion none the less.

"Thank you, it's an old family recipe that my grandmother taught me." The beautiful daughter of Tazuna replied with a smile. Attention was averted from the beautiful woman and towards her father after an outburst of remembrance.

"Oh I almost forgot! Kakashi-san, there were a few of the village's women here earlier looking for you. Said something about looking for a date, sounding familiar?" The grin that followed could almost be mistaken for glee as the Jounin sighed. By this point, the only ones not engaged in some form of conversation were Naruto, and the raven haired shinobi at the opposite side of the table. Admittedly, mostly because of Naruto, Haku really was trying. He had caught the blonde glancing at him every now and then.

Naruto was just trying to focus on his food so he could finish and get out of there faster. He hadn't really gotten anywhere close to a conclusion on anything, and so couldn't face the object of his confusion head on yet. Not that the ''object'' in question wasn't trying, oh no. For some (not)unknown reason, the boy seemingly only had an appetite for things commonly found in reach of the blonde, forcing said blonde to at least acknowledge his presence every now and then.

"Arigato, Naruto-san." The ice-user smiled at him as a particular kind of sauce again changed location.

"No problem." Haku looked hesitant for a second before speaking up again.

"Would you-" The fact that he'd spoken was lost on everyone but himself and Naruto, as the blonde interrupted him abruptly with surprising force.

"Sasuke! You couldn't catch a fish larger than this?! I could catch one twice as big in half the time!" The provocation obviously worked, as the blonde had a lot of experience with getting specifically on the Uchiha's nerves by now.

"As if. You couldn't catch water if you fell in the sea." Of course, the same could be said the other way around.

"What was that?! Want me to prove it to you?!" And so, the container's current ordeal was temporarily put on hold.

"Fine by me!" With that as a cue, the two were out of their seats and out the door heading for the river to settle a most important dispute, leaving a dejected Haku now observing his almost finished meal. As silence ensued once again, the boy finished and stood up to excuse himself.

"Thank you for the meal." He made a weak attempt at bowing, but did poorly due to his injury. Seeing the dejected boy walk back upstairs, the local Jounin decided he was finished as well and excused himself with a polite bow.

Haku reentered his room and sat back down at his window. Barely had he done so when a voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Don't let it get to you." The boy turned around and saw Kakashi leaning against the door frame. Surprise was evident in the younger boy's eyes. "I shouldn't let _what_ get to me exactly?" He was unsure of what the older man was referring to specifically, but he had his suspicions.

"Naruto's behavior at dinner, you shouldn't read too much into it." The Jounin clarified, confirming Haku's suspicion. He turned back towards the window, not comfortable with the topic. "How did you know?"

"Naruto told me your story while you were unconscious. Did you think I'd let a you lock yourself in a room without keeping an eye on you? I needed to make sure you wouldn't try to do something... _drastic_." The boy briefly wondered how the senior shinobi had manage to keep an eye on him without once getting noticed, but it wasn't very surprising after thinking it through. After all, this was the man who'd bested Zabuza on his own territory.

"I take it you know what happened. Then how can you tell me not to read into it? He quite obviously wants to avoid me after that." His voice held little emotion, not like a heartbroken person, but like someone who hadn't held much hope to begin with. It didn't go unnoticed by the silver haired copy-cat.

"Naruto grew up alone, he's not good at expressing himself. I can guarantee you that his behavior earlier wasn't meant to hurt you, nor was it an answer to your question." He could see the boy's eyes widen slightly at his words, and a small spark of hope lit up.

"Are you certain of that? Everything that he's done since then is telling me he does not want to be near me." Kakashi sighed at the question.

"I almost forgot how young you really are. You appear mature, and in many ways you are, but there are some things you simply learn with experience and time." The boy turned back to meet the man's wiser gaze, now genuinely curious. "Questioning your sexuality is one of them. Naruto will find his own answer with time, and then give you an honest response, but until then he'll be unsure of himself." The dark haired boy turned back to his window with a slightly more positive outlook. "But regardless, even if that becomes a "no", he already views you as a close friend, and he will never see you as any less than that."

Haku could already tell he'd left. Then again, he'd never felt him observing to begin with, and evidently he had. Considering the turn of events, he was actually sort of glad for it. Now alone, he resumed observing the frozen flower on the windowsill.

* * *

**A/N:** ...I get the feeling I have a lot of unintentional innuendos...

**Reviews are the fuel which keeps my literary muse and mind alive. Please, help me keep them alive!**


	3. Hands of Faith

**A/N: **…Been a while, hasn't it? …Sorry 'bout that, it wasn't really intentional.

I can't really give a solid excuse other than my own lack of confidence and incentive to write, and the fact that the time period between ages 16 and 19 here in Sweden's generally the time that we decide, start working towards **and** shape out futures.

…And I have a really hard time writing. In fact, I have **such **a hard time writing that the amount of essays I've written during all of my years of being educated amounts to roughly 3.

That's right; it's so difficult for me that **three separate educational systems **have specifically adapted their courses so that I could properly learn them along with my classmates.

That being said, it's kind of ironic that this is the time that I decide to finish this chapter, since I **still** don't really have the time to spend on this. I actually started typing at around 9pm, and by the time I'm typing this down after having **just** finished in one sitting, it's 7pm **the following day. **I wrote this down basically because I really can't stand having left so many stories hanging for so long, so this is basically the point where I just go "I can't fupping stand it anymore!" and start writing just because I feel **horribly **guiltyover not finishing what I've started.

So, with all of my excuses out of the way, let's get this one going shall we?

* * *

**~Chapter 3~**

**Hands of Faith**

* * *

**Tazuna's House.**

Hatake Kakashi has preciously few hobbies. The ones he** does** have, he consider highly amusing. One of them is to mess with his students. On this particular occasion,_ Naruto_ to be precise.

"It's getting pretty late don't you think, Naruto?"

The student in question was getting unbelievably tired of the Jounin's more or less constant pestering.

"I'm not going!"

Such a firm reply certainly didn't affect someone whose annoying-other-people record covered people like Mitarashi Anko, Maito Gai, and no less than _two_ Hokages. "Are you sure? He's been gone for a long time you know. Aren't you worried?"

"Why don't you send Sasuke or Sakura-chan instead? I don't see you pestering them about it!"

Someone with Kakashi's experience would of course account for a retort such as this in advance.

"Sasuke overdid it in training today, and has unfortunately passed out from chakra exhaustion, and Sakura's watching over him. You both do this every night, I'm actually surprised you're not lying in there with him. Is something distracting you from your training?" His serious voice clashed heavily with his smiling eye.

Knowing a competition of wit was useless with this man, the blonde opted for ignoring the question entirely rather than trying. "Why aren't _you _going then?"

"I'm afraid I'd get lost on the road of life."

That response was so weak that the blonde actually head-butted the table.

Not much later, the clock on the wall rang 20.00, which proved to be the breaking point for the Jinchuriki who, despite his outward appearance, was worried about the missing-nin. He had been allowed to go visit Zabuza's grave today. Since Naruto had made it a point to keep out of his sight for as long as possible, the boy had ended up having to go alone, a fact that secretly had the blonde feeling torn.

"FINE! I'll go, but you don't say a _word_ about it!" A deal that meant no particular effort on the silver haired man's end? He offered no objections. The last thing Kakashi heard before the sound of a door quite forcefully slamming closed was; "Tomorrow you'll wake up to a bucket of water, -_dattebayo!_"

As Naruto was walking, various scenarios of what could have happened to the raven haired boy crossed his mind. At first they were just ideas, but ideas lead to speculation, and speculations just go further and further out there the longer one dwells on them. There could be bandit remnants from Gato's gang still stirring around in the woods, looking for a scapegoat, or a gang of ordinary bandits just passing by. In Haku's current state, he could probably get taken down by a sufficiently rabid dog.

Opting to be safe rather than sorry, the blonde jumped up into the trees and entered "ninja mode" - as he had so childishly dubbed it when he was younger - speedily jumping from tree to tree.

Since "ninja mode" was many times faster than simply walking, he'd approach the hill with Zabuza's grave much faster than an average person would.

Arriving within eyesight of said destination, he spotted the boy he was looking for sitting roughly a meter or two in front of the sword which marked its wielder's resting place. Rather than walking up to him immediately, he instead slowed down and made his way up the hill at a normal walking pace.

He had found the boy, and he would bring him back to the house with him, but he wasn't about to address the issue of their… "conflict" just yet.

"Oi, Haku!"

The boy's ears perked up, soon followed by his head turning in the blonde's general direction.

"Naruto-san?" He sounded slightly disoriented. That, combined with a slight shake of the head to regain awareness gave away that he'd seemingly been about to fall asleep. "Why are you here?"

An odd question.

"…Because you should've been back hours ago? Isn't it kind of obvious you'd be looked for?"

Another brief shake of the head to keep the apparent drowsiness at bay followed before a response was uttered.

"I knew _someone_ would look, but I was expecting Kakashi-san. Aren't you avoiding me right now?" His voice carried curiosity, confusion _and _surprise, along with a bit of grogginess mixed in at the end.

"…I got worried." Speaking the truth is surprisingly embarrassing.

Being unwilling to admit that he had indeed been doing his best to avoid being in his friend's vicinity, even though they both already knew it, that last part felt slightly too awkward to address.

Haku's eyes widened marginally, and a nigh-undetectable hint of a smile graced his lips.

…Not that it stopped Naruto from taking notice and getting embarrassed over.

"Why are you still here anyway?" He semi-shouted, being his characteristically loud self. It definitely wasn't to cover up that he was getting flustered. Certainly not.

There was a brief pause before he replied.

"…I'm stuck." He stated flatly.

Naruto blinked.

"What?"

"I'm stuck." He repeated, this time with a bit more force.

The blonde looked his friend over in confusion, and then scanned the ground surrounding him.

"How?"

"I sat down to pray, and now I can't get back up." While it did explain the situation, the Blonde couldn't really think of much to say to that.

"Are you alright then? Did your wound open up…?" Genuine concern lit his eyes, as he was by no means medically knowledgeable enough to be able to help if that was the case.

"No, I'd have bled out hours ago if that was the case." An oddly pragmatic reply, offering both relief and unpleasant imagery in one. "I think the walk up the hill just became too much."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief before sporting a normal, genuine smile.

"Do you think you can walk if I help you up?" He asked.

"No." A straightforward response.

"Are you sure?"

"I can't feel my legs at all." He pointed out, earning an expression of dawning realization from his friend.

"Right." The blonde scratched his head thoughtfully before looking around briefly, obviously trying to think of a solution for the situation. After seemingly coming to a conclusion, he walked in front of the missing-nin, earning a look of interest, and turned away from the wounded Haku before kneeling down. It took a second or two for him to catch on.

"Get on and I'll carry you."

Eyebrows rose slightly at the thought. As enjoyable as the suggestion would've ordinarily been, it was rather poorly thought out in their current situation, though he had to smile at how readily the service was offered.

"It's a chest wound. I think I'd die if you carried me like that." He remarked with a sweat drop appearing on his forehead.

"Really!?" The genuine look of surprise on the blonde's face nicely highlighted his ignorance when it came to medicine. Though, on second thought, that could probably have a lot to do with the fact that he himself tended to recover from even worse injuries in hours, and probably had a pretty bad idea of just how far above average that really was.

A mild, pleasant sensation made its way into the raven-haired boy's mind at the realization that he quite enjoyed pondering about the blonde as a person.

Meanwhile, said blonde was griping for the last straw he could think of.

"Could you crawl?" Admittedly, not an area of his with a good track record. The look of sheer amazement on Haku's face was enough of an answer. "Right. Bad idea, sorry."

Now, from Naruto's point of view, this was bad. There was a last resort in his mind, a possibility which had popped into his mind even before any of the other solutions he'd offered had. Problem was, he wasn't very happy about the prospect of it. In fact, he was actively denying that it was the first thought that had popped into his mind after learning of their predicament.

Though, seeing no other way out, it became apparent that he'd have to swallow his pride and just take the embarrassment as it came.

Haku meanwhile remained unaware of the internal struggle of his comrade, up until the blonde straightened up and faced him with bright red cheeks, that is.

"…Naruto-san?" The look of curiosity at his actions remained only until the Jinchuricki took a step closer and his intent became apparent, drawing a blush that matched the former's in intensity.

* * *

**Later, Tazuna's House.**

While Kakashi wasn't _seriously_ worried about either of the two boys who had yet to return to the house that night, he _was_ worried. Not anywhere near to the extent of going to look for them - he held more faith in them than that - but most certainly to the extent of keeping a look out the window to await their arrival and make sure they _did _come back.

As the clock hit 20.30, he briefly glanced away from his book in favour of doing just that, and it was a decision he would forever be happy over having made.

Looking outside, his eyes widened, his book snapped closed and his body left the chair it had previously occupied in favour of closing the space between him and the window. The single greatest regret in his mind at this moment in time was that he did not have a camera.

In between two trees came a walking Uzumaki Naruto, carrying the boy he had set out to find in a rather… _intimate_… fashion. To be more specific, a fashion that was more commonly associated with newlyweds. It didn't help that the boy being carried was wearing his very _pink_ casual wear.

"What are you doing Kakashi-sensei?" Interrupted his one and only female student, Harunoa Sakura, having noticed the man's unusual fascination with a window. The man calmed back down to his ordinary self before replying.

"Ah, there was a rare breed of hawk flying by." The pink-haired kunoichi stared at him for a few seconds before simply chalking it up to her sensei being characteristically weird and then returning to what she was doing. After all, he did have several known odd hobbies. This wasn't all that far out there, all things considered.

He inwardly patted himself on the back for the successfully deceit and sent a last glance at the image before turning back to his chair with intent to resume his reading.

This mental image would be of little use if anyone else were to gain the same one and bring it to his blonde student's attention before he himself could.

Fortunately, the silver-haired Jounin just so happened to know a Yamanaka in the ANBU who had made a business out of replicating his customers' memory onto paper at the quality of a photograph.

One thing had become certain. Maybe not when they got back, maybe not even this month or year, but _at some point_, Hatake Kakashi was going to have a field-day with this.

* * *

**Outside.**

For some unexplainable reason, it seemed like the whole world had suddenly decided that Uzumaki Naruto was gay. Not only had he ended up in a situation that required him to carry another boy quite gently for a relatively long period of time in a decidedly romantic fashion, said boy also happened to be not only _definitely_ gay, but also one whom has **strongly** indicated a romantic interested in the blonde.

…_And it didn't end there._

There just so happened to be a series of clearings in the forest between the hill and Tazuna's house, most of which they just so happened to have passed though. _Of course _it was filled with flowers, and to top it all off, there was a full moon. Again, _a decidedly romantic setting._

Admittedly, the whole ordeal hadn't actually been unpleasant per say, just indescribably embarrassing, especially with their circumstances in mind. Naruto had mostly just tried to ignore the whole thing, and Haku had thankfully seemed more occupied with admiring said environment than actually talking about it. Could probably also be somewhat contributed to the boy being aware that bringing it up would make the situation more awkward, thought he was internally enjoying the experience.

Oh, and that wasn't the end of it, oh no. The _end_ was that said boy happened to fall asleep. In hindsight it was a more obvious possibility than it had been at the time, with the boy's initial body-language at the graveyard in mind and all. _This_ was of all things the one event that caused the blonde carrier the most embarrassment. That whole scenario was one that he had always imagined with a woman, and the thought of a boy feeling comfortable enough in his arms to fall asleep _during a walk though a romantic clearing under a full moon_ was one that he had truly and genuinely never, _ever_ thought of before.

Admittedly, he wasn't exactly grossed out or anything. Again, more embarrassed than anything else. In a certain sense, he was glad the boy had fallen asleep. It meant there was no real risk of him trying to bring up that one topic the blonde was currently dreading more than anything else, and he ended up not really minding most of the walk back as a result.

The first thing he did before approaching Tazuna's house was to make sure no one was outside to see him like this. Having confirmed that no one was, he walked up to the porch and peaked inside a window, unfortunately seeing the entire living room occupied by Kakashi, Sakura, Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami as well as Inari.

"_There's no way in hell I'm going through there like this!"_ He inwardly shouted to himself and took a step off the porch to redirect his gaze upwards. Finding the window that the boy in his arms had spent so much time staring through, he walked up to the wall just below it and experimentally put his foot against it and gathered chakra.

The daily races up a tree with Sasuke had indeed worked wonders, and the blonde found himself with a firm footing on the vertical surface, despite carrying roughly twice as much weight than usual. Good thing he wasn't gonna be running this time.

He took a moment to inwardly celebrate his progress before beginning his ascent, one step at a time. The boy was relatively light considering he stood a good ten centimeters above the blonde in height, thus the climb turned out fairly simple.

That is, for about halfway, at which point the window just next to them opened up and the head and upper-body of a certain Uchiha came into view, an event which caused the petrified blonde to freeze in place with the eyes of a deer in shock.

The Uchiha in question didn't seem to take notice of them for a few agonizing seconds. Seconds which ended abruptly with the genin seeing them at the edge of his vision, and slowly turning his gaze in their general direction with the widest black eyes the blonde had ever seen on his rival. Black eyes which met with blue ones in a standstill that lasted for about half as long as what it felt like. It was Sasuke who would break that silence.

"…I'm not going to ask, and you owe me." A slow nod from the blonde came as confirmation, and the Uchiha retreated back inside and closed the window before walking down the hallway back to the genin's shared sleeping room, leaving Naruto still frozen in place for several seconds.

This was probably the most embarrassed he had ever felt, only arguably having a contender in that one time he had accidentally kissed Sasuke in class.

…Kind of strange how both of those moments involved the particular Uchiha.

A blush that started at the base of his hair travelled all the way down to his feet and then disappeared seconds later.

Finally climbing in the window to Haku's room was surprisingly relieving after that ordeal.

Now for the (hopefully) _final_ ordeal of the day; Putting Haku to bed.

…And that thought brought unintended images to mind. Ignoring those, he walked up the boy's bed and put him down carefully, being extra careful not to disturb his bandaged torso just in case. He pulled the covers over him and turned to leave through the door.

He stopped himself and turned back to face the sleeping boy. He looked down at him, taking the rare chance to study the boy a bit more. There's a limit to how much you can look at someone who's awake without freaking them out, so this was a unique opportunity.

He once again noted that the boy really _was_ cuter than Sakura, and briefly wondered what that opinion really said about _himself_. Was he really gay? He still thought Sakura-chan was really cute, and Tzunami-san was really pretty. Thinking back at his "old" academy class, while he didn't exactly like any of the other girls all that much, most of them were pretty cute too.

Even so, _Haku was even cuter._ How was that even possible? He'd never seen a guy as cute as a girl before, and he _definitely _had never been attracted to any guy before. In fact, going though a mental list of every other guy he knew, he cringed at the very _thought _of being romantically interested in any of them.

…Except for Haku. The sensations he'd felt after that kiss as well as throughout the day also baffled him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it before turning back around and walking out of the room, sparing a single last glance at the boy sleeping in his bed before closing the door and wandering off to spend the entire night thinking about things.

Meanwhile Haku, who had woken up during the Sasuke incident, opened his eyes and sent the doorway a brief glance before turning over on his side and started wondering why the blonde had spent about five minutes looking at him supposedly sleeping, as well as calming his pulse back to normal.

* * *

**The Next Day, On the Road to Konoha.**

The goodbye to Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari had been both joyous and sad. Inari had cried, but eventually made a promise to Naruto to become a great carpenter and meet again one day. Tazuna and Tsunami had been cheerful, and had made them all promise to visit again sometime, as well as assured them that their home was always open to them.

To Haku's own surprise, he'd been treated with the same promises and offers of hospitality. True, he'd been treated well by them, but he hadn't expected them to view him as an equal to "The Heroes Of Their Country." It had brought a combination of happiness and guilt to his already injured chest, and he felt forever thankful to the family that had saved his life.

Though, that was hours ago. Currently, the five of them were on their way back to Konoha. The plan was to speak to the Hokage about potentially offering Haku a safe haven, and maybe even full citizenship, and if things went _really_ well, perhaps even a position as a shinobi of the leaf.

All of that, however, would be entirely dependent on negotiations with The Hidden Mist, though that was a conflict for another day.

The four-man-and-one-woman-band currently consisted of Sasuke and Sakura taking up the front, Kakashi the middle and Naruto and Haku making up the rear. This formation was a tactical decision by Kakashi. Not for the sake of combat, mind you, but rather for the fact that it allowed Naruto and Haku to interact without having to mind their 3 traveling companions staring at their backs.

But most of all, for the fact that Kakashi himself could easily study them anyway, and they'd now be less on edge about things since they're not _expecting_ the others to be looking at them.

Haku was now happier than before, although a bit awkward, now that Naruto no longer seemed to be avoiding him and was walking naturally by his side, though admittedly not talking much.

He _had_ hoped for a reply to his silent question from two days ago, but the blonde had so far avoided bringing it up and Haku himself was most certainly not going to force a discussion on the topic.

Simply content with the current situation, he spared his companion a glance and then sighed in resignation, resolving once again to let the blonde do this at his own pace.

His eyes opened in surprise however, at a very light sensation. He turned his head towards the boy that had taken up most of his thoughts for the past few days and saw that he was looking away quite intently, most definitely trying to hide a blush.

His gaze briefly lowered to stare with obvious surprise and fascination at the place where the blonde's hand now covered his own.

It was a reply. It wasn't a yes or a no, but a message that Uzumaki Naruto had somewhat come to a conclusion, and was giving _him_ a chance.

A smile that was both intense and mild at the same time made its way to the soon-to-be shinobi of the leaf, and his hand shifted around to be able to hold the blonde's in return.

The blonde turned back around slightly at the gesture, but soon turned back to look at the side of the road after having unintentionally locked eyes with the person holding his hand and confirming to him that he _was_ indeed looking away to hide a very obvious blush. An exchange which simply brought a quiet giggle from the raven-haired boy's mouth.

Back in front, Kakashi was smiling under his mask, and Sasuke – whom had discreetly been studying the same thing as Kakashi for the past two hours – was (secretly) happy for his (secretly) best friend's sake.

**And Sakura was just being Sakura.**

* * *

**A/N: **Not that there's anything wrong with that.

So, you might notice that I'm writing Haku to be quite feminine here. There're actual reasons for that!

1: Haku was canonically portrayed as rather feminine, so it's within his characterization.

2: Naruto. Since it'll be hard to get across in-story, I'll state this here. **In the context of this story, Naruto is bisexual with a strong leaning towards women.** He's also 13 (he was 12 in canon). The main thing with this is that, with his sexuality in mind, it's a lot more realistic and believable for him to fall for a guy if the guy in question _is _fairly feminine. I really can't think of a way to write him falling for a "normal" guy in such a short time with his characterization and age in mind.

…And I happen to find Haku adorable when he's being feminine. That too.

To be perfectly honest with you guys, this isn't _technically _finished. It's finished in the sense that the story can easily end off here, and I have no actual obligation to continue this anymore.

It's _not_ finished in the sense that I have a few other ideas for a couple more chapters, but as I mentioned in the _top_ Author's Note, there is **literally** no guarantee that I will **ever **again be in a situation in which I can actually write them down.

…I have this terrible habit of viewing everything I ever do as horrendously bad, so it takes quite a lot before I can justify posting something I've written to myself.

And I also happen to be occupied with a Claymore/Bleach crossover that is **literally** the hardest thing ever to write(and I'm not kidding), so that's also sort of in the way.

All this being said, I'd like to thank everyone who's ever reviewed and faved/followed, as well as encourage you to continue doing so, since that is most likely what will be affecting whether or not I can ever get in the mood to write down more for this.


End file.
